


Not Again

by LastCorsair



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22997203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastCorsair/pseuds/LastCorsair
Summary: Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose grow up as next-door neighbors. Hijiinks ensue.
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 11
Kudos: 45





	1. Yarr Matey!

_**Ages six and eight** _

Taiyang was in the kitchen, humming to himself as he cut vegetables for dinner when the doorbell rang. "Yang, can you see who it is at the door?" Now, where were those tomatoes, he could have sworn he'd bought some for dinner tonight.

"I gotta beat this boss before Ruby does!" Yang yelled back from the living room.

The response made Tai shake his head and reach for a towel. Ruby had just gotten old enough to play some of the more complicated video games in his collection and it had sparked a full-blown rivalry between the girls. Yang loved her little sister with all her heart, but kids were kids after all.

Ruby was so different from Yang, though. She was just so interested in gizmos of every kind. Just short of her fifth birthday, she'd watched with furious intensity as a repairman took their dishwasher apart to replace the motor. No part had been spared detailed scrutiny by the five-year-old, and Taiyang had given the repairman a nice tip for putting up with Ruby's questions. He'd regretted indulging her curiosity that afternoon when he wandered into the kitchen to find Ruby surrounded by the dismantled dishwasher. Tai hadn't known whether to laugh or cry, so he'd just called the repair place again.

The smile on his face from the memory faded when he saw the patrolwoman standing in front of his door. "Sir, we're looking for a missing girl, and their property is right next to yours. Have you seen this girl?"

Tai shook his head as he looked at the picture she showed him. "No, I haven't, but I can ask my girls. She looks like she's about the same age as my oldest." He led the officer into the living room where Yang was locked in virtual combat with what looked like a titanic clown. "Yang, where's Ruby? This officer needs to ask you something."

"Treehouse," Yang answered, her tongue sticking out of one side of her mouth in concentration. "With that weird girl."

The patrolwoman started to speak, but Tai raised a hand. "Weird girl? Was there someone new around? You know the rule about introducing new visitors."

"Sorry," was Yang's reply, in a distracted tone that showed she wasn't sorry, just saying it because she had to. "A kid with white hair's weird, right? Unless she's a really tiny old lady, but she didn't look like an old lady. Talked kinda like a grownup, though, so I dunno."

With a sigh, Taiyang reached over and turned off the game console, eliciting a yelp of protest from Yang. "This is more important than your game, Yang. Is this her?" he asked, showing her the missing girl's picture. "She's missing, and her family's really worried about her."

"Yeah, that's her. Can I go back to my game now?"

"Nope. Both of you broke a rule, but you're the big sister, so you get punished more. I'll talk to Ruby in a minute, but no more video games today for you."

Sending his older daughter to her room, Taiyang led Officer Peach out to the treehouse in the backyard. Okay, yeah, he had to admit he'd gone really overboard building the treehouse, but Ruby's mother had just died and he'd needed something to help him deal with the grief. And it had just been so majestic a tree to work with, too. "Ruby, are you up there?" he yelled, trying to spot movement through the windows.

"We're playing pirates," was the distracted reply.

Sure enough, the jolly roger flew from the front of the treehouse. "Okay, but can you come down for a minute? I need to talk to you and your friend."

For a moment, two faces looked down at him and Officer Peach from the window before ducking back inside. "I don't want to leave! I'm having fun, real fun!" cried a voice Tai didn't know.

"That looked like the missing girl to me," Peach said. "White hair's the giveaway. Can you try talking them down while I call it in?"

* * *

"I don't see why you don't just climb up there and make them come down."

Taiyang just shook his head. Weiss' father (that was the missing girl's name) was definitely what his father would have called a grouch. "Mister Schnee, I can understand wanting to take your daughter home. But they've managed to pull up the rope ladder leading to the treehouse, so we'd have to climb the tree. And I don't want to try and carry a kicking and screaming little girl down a rope ladder, do you? It just doesn't seem safe. No, I think this calls for a gentler touch."

Jacques scoffed. "But cookies? I think that sounds more like a reward than a punishment."

"Not a reward. Bait. Watch." Taiyang gestured out the kitchen window to his backyard, where Yang was wandering up to the treehouse, a chocolate chip cookie in hand.

Yang stopped at the base of the tree, yelling something Tai couldn't hear at the girls in the treehouse and waving the cookie. The two girls peeked over the railing, then Ruby yelled something back at Yang and waved the wooden sword she held, Weiss doing the same thing after a moment's hesitation. Yang yelled back again, then headed back to the house, munching on the cookie.

"What'd they say, kiddo?" Taiyang asked as Yang wandered into the kitchen, headed for the refrigerator.

"They said that if I didn't leave them alone, they'd make me walk the plank. I said they didn't have a plank and Ruby asked if I knew what the treehouse was made of." Yang shrugged and pulled out a bottle of juice before pulling a clean glass from the dish rack. "I still get more cookies, right?"

"Right, but you forgot to close the refrigerator." Tai shook his head with a grin as his older daughter darted back to close the fridge before pouring herself a glass of juice and hopping onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "Looks like Ruby and Weiss have taken a real liking to each other. I didn't think Ruby would pass up chocolate chip cookies for anything."

"We've tried things your way," Jacques said, shaking his head. "Now I'm going to solve the problem." With that, he marched out to the treehouse. "Weiss Schnee, come down here this instant!"

"No!" came a duet of little girl voices from inside. Then Ruby looked over the railing and stuck her tongue out at him "I'm the dread pirate Red Rose, and there be no Schnees aboard my vessel. Begone ye scurvy dog or I'll fire my cannons at you!"

"Now see here-"

_Splat._

Jacques Schnee stood there, shocked, egg running down the side of his head and dripping down onto the light blue-gray suit he wore. Above him Weiss wound up her arm and hurled a tomato at her father before he could recover, hitting him dead square in the chest this time. _So that's where the tomatoes went,_ Tai thought as he headed out to where Jacques stood.

"Okay, Ruby," he yelled up toward the treehouse, fighting not to laugh or smile in the face of Jacques's growing anger. "I know you two girls are having fun, but it's time for Weiss to go home now."

Now he lost it as the girls pelted both men with eggs and tomatoes, yelling all sorts of 'pirate talk' at them. Tai was chuckling as he led Jacques back inside, sensing that a tactical retreat was in order. "Well, at least their ammo supply is limited," he said, wiping his face with a paper towel and handed one to Jacques. "I only had two dozen eggs and a half dozen tomatoes. But I'd be willing to bet they'll get hungry pretty quick."

"They've got lots of snacks," Yang muttered around a mouthful of cookie.

"How so?" Taiyang asked, glancing at the cabinet where he kept the girls' snacks. Wait a second… The door was hanging open about half an inch, just enough that he hadn't noticed it. And the fruit bowl was empty too. "How did they get this open? It's supposed to be locked," he wondered aloud, scanning the cabinet shelves. Surprisingly, they hadn't gone for the sugary snacks, instead taking things like granola bars and crackers.

"Ruby picked the lock. I watched her, it was kinda cool."

"Ruby picked the..." Tai's voice trailed off in wonder. He knew his younger daughter was gifted with mechanical things, but this was a whole new level.

"Just what kind of juvenile delinquents are your children, Mister Long?" Jacques yelled, taking a step toward Taiyang.

Tai just gave him a _Are you kidding me?_ Look. "First, it's Xiao Long, two words. Second, my daughters aren't juvenile delinquents and if you ever call either one of them that again, you'll be taking the express to Vale General. And yes, I can back that up. I'm a black belt in seven different martial arts, all of which I'm also certified to teach. Ruby is just… insanely gifted with all sorts of machinery."

Despite himself, Jacques took a step back. He'd never been threatened so calmly yet sincerely. "I apologize, Mister Xiao Long. Weiss has never acted like this before, so I'm not used to dealing with disobedient behavior like this."

"Pretty strict upbringing for her?" Jacques nodded carefully. "So she gets upset at home and runs away. Then she meets Ruby, who's pretty free-spirited and really goes off the rails." Taiyang gave a bark of laughter. "I think you've got a hellcat on your hands, Mister Schnee. Good luck getting that genie back in the bottle."

"So what do you suggest?" Jacques asked, his tone sarcastic. "Give her cookies and a pat on the head?"

"Get comfy, because they're headed for the woods," Yang said, pointing out the window

Sure enough, Ruby and Weiss were headed for the treeline, not for the thin line of trees that divided Taiyang's property from the Schnee estate next door, but the rougher, untamed woods on the other side. And yep, Ruby was wearing her backpack, probably full of the stolen snacks. Tai just sighed. "Well, I don't think we'll be seeing them for a while. You might want to head home and clean up. I'm definitely going to hit the shower."

* * *

It was almost dark by the time Ruby and Weiss wandered into the kitchen. Jacques Schnee was appalled by his daughter's appearance. There were leaves and twigs in her hair and scratches on her face and arms. Her stockings were torn and ruined, the dress was dirty and probably ruined too. Oh, and she was missing a shoe and limping just a little. "Well, young lady, what do you have to say for yourself?" he said, crossing his arms and standing in front of her.

"I gotta pee," she sniffed.

"Not until-"

"I gotta pee," Weiss yelled, her hands clenched in dainty little fists by her side. "So either move or I'll, I'll, I'll pee on your foot, that's what I'll do!"

"Meanie!" Ruby yelled, shoving at Weiss' dad. Jacques raised a hand as if to swat at Ruby, making Tai take a step forward. Weiss took advantage of the distraction to dart past her father, Ruby fast behind. "This way, Weiss!"

Taiyang just shook his head. Yeah, Weiss was gonna be a hellcat.

* * *

Ugh, how long was her sister going to mope? She got to play with Weiss for, what, like eight hours or something like that? And ever since all she'd done was slump around the house. Ruby wouldn't play video games with her, or listen to Yang's jokes, or anything. Weiss was the worst, on top of being a white-haired weirdo.

All of which meant that when the doorbell rang, Yang had to pause her game and get up to answer it. Which she did with one fist raised, just so whoever it was that was bugging them would know how mad she was at having her game interrupted. Or how tough Yang was. Maybe both.

So yeah, Yang was kinda surprised when standing there was-" Weiss!" Ruby yelled, charging the door and tackling Weiss. "I didn't think I'd ever, ever, ever see you again!" The white-haired girl just laughed and started swatting Ruby to let her go.

The portly balding gentleman who had been standing behind Weiss smiled. "Excuse me, but Mister Schnee was wondering if Weiss could come over and play with Ruby for a while. She has been so dismayed since her last visit."

"I'll go get dad," Yang said, stopping before she got two steps toward her dad's office. "Dorks," she called out to her sister and Weiss.

Just because she was happy her sister wasn't going to mope anymore didn't mean wasn't going to tease her.


	2. Grand Theft Bumblebee

_**Ages seven and nine** _

"Come on, Weiss, you gotta see this, it's the most awesomest thing ever!"

Weiss just shook her head at the nonsense Ruby was shouting as she dragged Weiss along and just followed along behind her new best friend. Who was even better than her last best friend, even if she was littler than Weiss. But not so little as to be a baby, because babies were probably the most boring thing ever, even more boring than Weiss' dad. Not like Ruby's dad, who was tons of fun and made sure there were always fresh-baked cookies around. Weiss' dad probably thought cookies grew on a bush or something silly like that.

"Come on!" Ruby shouted, almost dragging Weiss behind her into the garage. "See? Didn't I say it was awesome!"

Weiss blinked, puzzled. "It's a… bicycle."

"Yeah! And it's black and red even. Isn't it cool?"

"Quite." The white-haired girl nodded to show how much she liked the bicycle. It was good manners to show how much you liked something when someone was trying to show it off.

"Dad says I can ride all I want, as long as I tell him where I'm going and don't leave the neighborhood." Ruby beamed proudly at the freedom she'd been granted. "So we can go all sorts of places together."

"Ruby…" Weiss sighed; there was no way out of this. "I… don't have a bicycle."

Ruby stopped, her hands on the handlebars of her bike. "Why not?" Oh, that's why Klein was always driving Weiss over in a car. Which was dumb. Why bother a grownup when you didn't have to? "Won't your dad buy you one?"

"And… I can't ride one either."

Now the bicycle slipped from Ruby's hands, clattering to the ground as she turned to look at Weiss, her face a mask of confusion as she tried to puzzle out why a kid older than she was couldn't ride a bicycle. Ruby was six and she could do it! "That's silly," she said, scratching her head.

"Father says it's undignified."

"I don't know what unnigified means, but I don't see why you can't learn. Oh!" Ruby gave her friend a gap-toothed grin. "Maybe I can teach you."

"The hard part's learning to keep your balance. And you do ballet and dancing and stuff, right? So that should be a snap." Ruby snuck a glance at Weiss' feet, making sure she was wearing her playing shoes instead of those silly fancy shoes her dad sent her in sometimes. "Come on."

Warily, Weiss let herself be led outside where Ruby perched herself on her bicycle in the middle of the circular driveway. "Okay, you stand over the bar in the middle like this. And you kinda catch one of the pedals like this with your foot and lift it up and then put your foot on it. Or just put your foot on whichever pedal is forward, but dad says it's better to have as good a starting push as you can."

"And then what?"

"Well, um," here Ruby faltered. For all her bravado, she'd only managed to master riding without training wheels a few days ago herself. "As you push off, you lift the other foot off the ground and put it on the other pedal. It takes a little practice. And then you sit on the seat and keep pedaling.:

"Hmm." The white-haired girl put her hands on her hips like she'd seen her mother do when she was being serious. Now that she'd learned a little bit about bicycles and how they worked, she was a little scared. "And what keeps you from falling over?"

"You do! Dad says that as long as you're going fast enough, you won't fall over. Doesn't have to be all that fast." Ruby had esperimented to find out how slow you had to go, and it wasn't that fast, just faster than most people could run. But not Ruby! She was faster than lightning. Or so her dad said. And Yang could never catch her, nopenopenope! "Here, I'll show you."

Weiss watched as Ruby showed her how to mount the bicycle, get it moving, pedaled it around the driveway, and then how to get off once you wanted to stop. She tried not to laugh when Ruby fell trying to stop, she really did. But the look on Ruby's face as she looked at her skinned knee while going "ow-ow-ow" was just too much. Finally, Ruby stood and grinned at Weiss again. "Ready to try it?"

Carefully, Weiss stood over the bicycle. "Okay, um, I'm gonna hold onto you and run along to start like dad did me when I was getting off training wheels," Ruby said as she grabbed onto Weiss' waist. "Ready? Let's go."

Weiss managed to get a whole three feet before coming to a halt. "I can't do it."

"Pfft, you can do anything. And hey, you got further than I did my first try, and you never rode with training wheels. Come on."

After several more tries (and one trip inside for a band-aid) Weiss had just about had enough. She sat on the ground, chin resting on her hands as Ruby wrapped her arm around Weiss' shoulders. "Come on! That was nearly six feet the last time."

"It's too hard," Weiss grumbled. "I'm pretty sure my knees shouldn't be coming up that high."

"Huh. Oh! I know what the problem is. Come on!"

* * *

"Dad! Dad! Daaad!"

Taiyang's eyes fluttered open where he'd been lying on the couch reading a book. Or at least that was what he'd claim if anyone asked him. In reality, he'd been taking a nap. Keeping up with two very lively little girls was exhausting."Yes, Yang, what is it?"

"Dad, Ruby stole my new bike and gave it to Weiss!"

"I doubt she did that, firecracker," Taiyang said with a laugh as he stood up and stretched

"Come on, dad!" Yang yelled, pulling him toward the front of the house.

Sure enough, Weiss and Ruby riding around on the circular driveway in front of the house. "Hi, dad!" Ruby yelled as she whizzed by him. Weiss didn't say anything; she was concentrating too hard. And yes, Weiss was riding Yang's brand new bicycle.

Tai regarded his younger daughter dubiously as he crossed his arms. If Ruby was stealing Yang's things to give to her friend… "Ruby, what's going on?"

"I'm teaching Weiss to ride a bike! Did you know she didn't know? And her dad won't buy her one or let her learn to ride because it's unnigified," she called out as she went past again, legs pumping furiously.

"Daad," Yang whined, tugging at her dad's sleeve.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'undignified,' Ruby," Tai called out to his younger daughter. "And-"

"I think she's ready for the road!" Ruby yelled. "Come on, Weiss, I know the way to your place!"

* * *

Jacques Schnee's fingers were drumming on his leg as the driver guided his car up the long driveway to his house. He was going to have to figure out what to do about the arrangement with Winchester Heavy Industries, and soon. Yes, the deal was somewhat profitable, but they were always difficult business partners. Perhaps it was time for them to part ways. He'd have to suggest it to the board at the next meeting, but it would have to be done very carefully.

He was jerked from his thoughts when the driver honked and swerved the car. "Sorry, sir," the driver said, glancing at the mirror. "There are kids riding bicycles on the drive."

Jacques frowned. Why hadn't the staff run the children off? This was his property, not some public street. Then his eyes caught sight of the children the driver was talking about, and he gritted his teeth. There was Weiss, head down, legs pumping furiously as she and Ruby went zipping up the driveway toward the house. He raised an eyebrow. Hadn't he told Weiss she couldn't have a bicycle?

He stepped from the car with a frown as it came to a stop behind the house. The girls were riding around the fountain and just added the car to their route. "Weiss Elizabeth Schnee, stop this immediately!"

"No!" she yelled at him, darting past just out of arm's reach.

Taiyang's SUV came to a stop just behind Jacques's car, and the man himself walked up to Jacques with a wry grin on his face. "Sorry about this. Apparently, Ruby decided to teach Weiss to ride, and stole Yang's bike to do it."

Jacques nodded, then called out to his daughter, "Weiss, did you steal Yang's bicycle to learn to ride?"

"Did not!" was the answer he got as the pair swerved between the fountain and the parked cars, nearly running down Yang, who yelled and promised her sister a beating.

"We're just borrowing it! We'll give it back!" Ruby added, catching up to Weiss who had pulled ahead for a moment.

"Girls," Taiyang laughed, glancing at Jacques, "when you take somebody's stuff without permission, that's still stealing, even if you put it back."

"Besides, now that Weiss knows how to ride, she'll need her own bicycle. That way the three of you can ride together." Jacques was honestly a little proud of how fast Weiss had learned to ride. It did take some coordination, after all. And if Weiss could visit Ruby on her own, it would save the staff from having to drive her. Well, it usually ended up being the new man, what was his name, Klein. But, hmm. He'd need some way to reach Weiss if he needed too. Was nine too young for a cell phone? Probably. Scheduling, rules, that sort of thing was the better solution, yes. Jacques and his staff already had Taiyang's number, after all.

"Yahoo!" Ruby yelled, raising her arms in triumph. Which Weiss immediately copied with the inevitable results. She lost control of her, ahem, 'borrowed' bicycle and ran straight into the side of Tai's car, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Weiss! Are you okay?" Ruby asked, skidding to a halt as Weiss sat up, glaring at the Yang's bike in annoyance.

"I'm fine," the white-haired girl said, standing up and dusting herself off.

Jacques scoffed. "I beg to differ. It looks like some medical attention is in order."

Sure enough, Weiss' leg was scraped up and bleeding. Taiyang just sighed. "I've got a first aid kit in the car, I'll clean her up."

"No need, my staff can-"

Tai glanced at the girls, then dropped his voice. "Besides, this way we can go get that bicycle you just promised Weiss faster. And do you really want to deal with the tantrums if you put it off? Or try to get out of it?"

"I promised no such-"

Ruby's father just pointed at where the three girls were arguing while Yang inspected her precious bee-decorated bike for damage. "Not how she's going to see it, and you know it."

Jacques Schnee hadn't gotten where he was in the world by being a fool. And he knew when he was beaten.


	3. Terror From The Skies!

_**Ages eight and eleven** _

Taiyang couldn't help but laugh as he saw Weiss' bicycle emerge from the woods between his property from the Schnee place. (Jacques was always very firm about calling it their 'estate' but Tai didn't care. Besides, Jacques was a man entirely too aware of his importance as far as Taiyang was concerned.) The white-haired girl rode up to the back porch before dismounting and using the kickstand to instead of just tossing her bike on the ground like every other kid her age he'd seen. Before she could knock on the glass door, he yelled out, "Her and Yang are out in the shed," not even bothering to take his eyes off the soccer game he was watching. Today's match was Patch vs. Vale City and he didn't want to miss a minute of it.

Come to think of it, what had Ruby been up to out in the shed lately? Letting her take over his dad's old workshop had seemed a brilliant idea when he'd thought of it. At least until she built a trebuchet and, well, tried to lay siege to her school to demand cookies with lunch every day forever. Thankfully the only ammunition Ruby had been able to get was a couple of buckets of water balloons.

And then there had been the go-kart. One of Jacques employees, not Klein, what had been the girl's name? Never mind, it didn't matter. Anyway, she'd brought Weiss over instead of letting her ride her bike like normal, and Tai had needed to run to the store for something. So he'd left the woman watching the three girls only to come back to Ruby using the street in front of the house as a drag strip in an electric go-kart she'd built, with Weiss and Yang cheering her on from the side of the road. Tai had read the young woman, Trifa, that was her name, the riot act and then called Jacques and let him know what happened. Tai assumed the woman had gotten fired, but at the time, he didn't care. And then he'd sat down with the three girls and explained that things like go-karts were dangerous and should only be used under adult supervision. Tai had grounded Ruby and Yang for two weeks. Jacques had done the same with Weiss. He'd almost hated doing it because he couldn't help but admire Ruby's ingenuity. Almost. But with a couple of headstrong girls like Ruby and Yang, he couldn't let them walk all over him, could he?

He hoped Weiss got along with Yang's new friend, Blake. Blake's parents had moved into the neighborhood while Weiss was off on her trip and they were worried that Blake would have trouble making friends. But Yang had taken a liking to the shy girl and before you could say "tuna salad" she and Ruby were dragging Blake all over the neighborhood.

Tai was just about to sit down with a fresh cold beer in his hand when his phone rang. Annoyed, he pulled it out of his pocket, then took a deep breath before answering. "She's out in the shed with the girls, Jacques."

"I see." Most people wouldn't have heard the anger in Jacques' voice but Tai could hear it loud and clear. "Weiss is supposed to be here for a party I'm hosting for some investors."

"Got it," Taiyang answered with a scowl, glad Jacques couldn't see him right now. A party full of stuffy self-important people trying to impress each other with how important they were while Jacques tried to talk them out of their money. No wonder Daddy's little hellion Weiss had run for it as fast as she could. "I'll send her home."

"No, I'd rather send a car around. That way she can't 'get lost' on the way home."

So there _was_ a brain behind that ridiculous mustache. "Alright, let me go run her out of the shed and I'll have her waiting." Taiyang stood and stretched, looking wistfully at the television. If whoever Jacques sent was fast enough, he just might catch the end of the game.

Behind the house, he could see that the big doors on the shed were open and the four girls were pushing… something out of the shed. It looked like it'd started life as the go-kart, but with things rearranged. It only had three wheels, for one thing, one in the front and two in the back. And there was a propeller and fins on the back. Wait, why did it have a propeller on it? And why were the girls all wearing their bicycle helmets? And what was that long thing that Yang and Blake were hoisting on top and bolting on?

Stunned shock turned into panic as the four girls all climbed aboard, hoisting buckets of water balloons with them. Taiyang ran out of the house, screaming, "Ruby, turn that thing off!" Because who else but his youngest daughter would be behind the controls of a contraption she built.

But it was too late. All Taiyang could do was watch as the machine sped across the yard, propeller at the back buzzing away. It bounced once, then twice, and finally lurched into the air like a drunken albatross that suddenly remembered it had wings. He almost thought it wasn't going to clear the fence, but it pulled up just in time.

Dammit. Jacques was going to be pissed.

* * *

Jacques was less angry than he expected. Since he'd had to go to Mistral on business for a month, he'd taken his family with him. He'd thought it would do the three of them some good to travel, with the added benefit of distracting them from their mother's worsening condition. As long as it had been since Ruby and Weiss had seen each other, he'd expected them to get up to some sort of trouble or another fairly quickly. But for Ruby to have constructed something that actually flew, well, that part did surprise him.

He sighed as he watched the black shape rising from Taiyang's property. It was too much to hope that Ruby had built any sort of safety gear into the thing. There was no arguing the girl's sheer brilliance with anything mechanical or electrical, but forethought and planning were not among her gifts. The best Jacques could hope for was that they managed to land without severe injury. And Taiyang was already calling the police.

Wait. Was the thing turning this way?

* * *

"Yeeehaaaaw!"

"Siddown, Yang."

"Aw, come on sis, this is so freaking awesome!" Yang leaned over the side and hocked up a loogie, watching it disappear into the trees below.

"One, you're not much shorter than the rotor. Wanna get hit on the head, or your hair caught? Two, your dumb fat butt being out of your seat messes with the balance, and, um, this is the first time we've flown this thing, remember?" Ruby risked taking her eyes off where they were going to glare at her sister. "And three, if you don't siddown, I'm gonna roll and dump you out."

"I'll show you whose butt is fat and dumb," the blonde grumbled none too quietly as she sat back down, buckling the seatbelt her sister had insisted on. Sheesh, since when did her sister turn into a bigger worry-wart than Weiss? Ruby had been the one to insist they wear their bike helmets and tie up their hair. Okay, maybe she had a point about the hair thing. Yang glanced backward at the propeller and imagined getting her hair caught in it. That would majorly suck.

"Wait, you never tried this thing?" Weiss stated at her best friend in shock. "But, but we were almost finished with it when I left! I figured you'd do a, what's it called, a test flight while I was gone."

"W-we wouldn't have built this thing if it wasn't for you. And then Blake moved in down the street, so Yang begged me to make it a four-seater, and that took a while, so…" Truth be told, Ruby wasn't sure why she hadn't tried to fly The Infernal Contraption (as Weiss had dubbed it) at least once, but, well, she'd promised Weiss a flight, and Ruby figured they'd only get one flight before they were grounded forever. Or until Dad forgot why they were grounded. So maybe by the time they were a hundred. Maybe. She was just really glad that flying gave her a reason not to look at Weiss right now. Seeing her again made Ruby feel kinda funny.

"Are we ready to begin our bombing run?" Ruby just about hit the rotor herself when Yang leaned forward and yelled in her ear. "Yang, scaring the pilot is stupid even for you!" she yelped.

"'Bombing run?'" Now Weiss was giving both of them a weird look. "'What bombing run?"

"Neither of them would tell me." It was the first complete sentence Weiss had heard out of the new girl, what was her name, Blake or something like that. "I just know I spent all day yesterday filling water balloons. And helping them figure out where to put them."

Yang grinned at Weiss. "Well, you see, princess..."

* * *

Jacques suppressed a groan as some of the guests on the patio noticed Ruby's aircraft and started pointing at it and wondering what it was. "Nothing to worry about, everyone. A neighbor's daughter is ridiculously mechanically gifted and has apparently managed to build something that flies. The police have already been called and should be on their way. Now, Mister Vasilias, you were saying about that new textile operation in Mistral?"

"Well, you see-" Before Vasilias could continue, Ruby's aircraft made a swooping pass over the patio, making some of the guests duck. Now Jacques did scowl. It seemed like the police either hadn't believed Taiyang or were a little slow getting their helicopter in the air. "Take that, fat-butts!" and other childish insults could barely be heard over the sound of the craft's engine.

"Can you believe this? Parents who let their children act like this should be locked up, and their children right next to them!" This came from a particularly vapid woman who was half her husband's age at best. Jacques couldn't stand the woman, but her husband was a good candidate for investing in his new project so he'd invited them. Now he was regretting it.

Jacques sighed theatrically. "As I said, the police have already been called and should be here soon. Hopefully, they can get the children down before they come to any harm."

"And lock them up. Things like this are why I never want to have children." As the aircraft came around for another pass, the woman laughed evilly. "Isn't that your dau-"

_Splash._

Something brightly colored hit the woman right in the chest, drenching her in water. "What the fucking hell?" she swore, her normally high-class accent vanishing for a more coarse drawl. "It's bad enough your shitty little brat is riding around on that thing, now she's throwing shit at us?"

"Now, dear," her husband began, but she rolled right over him. "Don't you 'now dear' me! We should fucking sue his ass. Maybe we'd get enough money so you'll stop bitching about how rich he is."

"I think you should leave," Jacques said, his eyes narrowing. Good investor or not, there was a limit to what he'd put up with, and she'd just crossed it.

Before the obnoxious woman or her husband could answer, more of the brightly colored projectiles rained down on the crowd, soaking some with direct hits and splashing others with near-misses. One woman tumbled backward into the pool, her dress lifting high enough to show that she really should have reconsidered her choice of undergarments today. Or any undergarments at all, really.

And of course, Weiss was hurling water balloons and insults just as fiercely as the craft's other two passengers. Even Ruby was tossing a few herself, though Jacques hoped she was keeping one hand on the controls. It was hard to be sure.

Suddenly the incredible ridiculousness of the whole situation slammed feet-first into the forefront of his mind, making Jacques burst out laughing. Somehow the girls had built an aircraft and what did they do with it? Terrorize a party Weiss had been trying to avoid with water balloons. He was so busy laughing he didn't notice until the second water balloon hit him, this time in the head. Jacques cleared his throat, then raised his voice to be heard over the yelling and engine noise. "Everyone, let's move this inside. It s my daughter and her friends have decided a little precipitation is the order of the day."

Thankfully most of Jacques's guests were taking things with good humor. With a few exceptions, they found being bombarded with water balloons by four young girls in a home-made aircraft hilarious, some of them even going so far as to ask the household staff for water balloons to throw back.

Now Taiyang and Jacques were standing by the door to the patio where the party had originally been held. An officer from the Patch police department stood next to them, sipping a cup of Jacques's coffee as the three of them watched the helicopter from the Vale police department try to force the girls' aircraft down. The officer shook his head. "Speaking strictly for myself, Mister Schnee, Mister Xiao Long, it's pretty incredible that your girls managed to build something that flew. It's stayed in the air for what, two hours? But we have to get them to come down. For one thing, nobody's inspected it to make sure it's safe, and, well, pilot's licenses are a thing. I don't think they issue them to eleven-year-olds."

"Ruby's piloting it," Taiyang said absentmindedly as he watched the police helicopter veer away from another near-collision. "She's eight. And they're wearing their bicycle helmets."

"Eight-year-olds then. The point is-" The officer stopped mid-sentence as something flew off the girls' aircraft. "That didn't look good."

* * *

Ruby frowned as something behind her went _thunk_ _._ She glanced to make sure where the police helicopter was, then dared another look at the engine. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh? What's uh-oh mean?" Weiss had been enjoying herself, even going so far as to half-stand in her seat and show her butt to the police helicopter, but Ruby's tone was worrying. Her father was going ground her till she was a grandmother for this.

"We gotta land."

"Why?" Yang pouted. She was having a blast. The blonde was pretty sure she'd learned some new swear words from the cops in the helicopter. Ruby had gotten a little too close a few times.

"The propeller broke. Now shaddap and sit down you big dumb butt because I gotta figure out how to land." Without a word Weiss reached up and squeezed Ruby's shoulder, leaning forward with her as Ruby looked around for somewhere to land.

Down on the ground, Jacques and Tai tried in vain to keep up as the girls' aircraft headed for the front lawn, clearly in trouble. It hit the ground, bounced back into the air, then came down again, this time rolling over and coming to rest on its side. Taiyang was the first to reach them. "Is everyone okay?"

"My arm hurts," Ruby whimpered. "We're in big trouble, aren't we, dad?"

Now Jacques caught up, a guest from the party who was a doctor behind him. "Most likely, but the important part is, none of you are badly hurt. Here, let Doctor Tukson have a look at your arm, Ruby."

* * *

As the sun reached the horizon, Taiyang and Jacques found themselves once again on the front lawn, looking at the wreckage of the girls' aircraft. An officer stood watch from a convenient bench, just to make sure they didn't tamper with the evidence. "Man this is nuts,' Tai said, shaking his head. "Trust Ruby to build a damn helicopter."

"Gyrocopter," Jacques said from where he was crouched down and peering at the seats in the wreckage.

"Say what?"

"It's a gyrocopter, not a helicopter. No power to the main rotor." Jacques stood, dusting his hands off on his trousers. "And to look at it, I think they cannibalized my golf cart for some of the parts. I was wondering where they got the motor."

"I, uh, I didn't know you golfed," Taiyang said, not knowing what else to say. The closest he'd ever been to a golf course was mini golf.

Jacques shrugged. "I tried it for a while, trying to impress some investors. I went a little overboard and bought a golf cart. Ridiculous game, I hated it with a passion." He cleared his throat. "It occurs to me that we're looking at this the wrong way."

"I don't see how," Tai replied, shaking his head. "Our daughters built a, what'd you call it, a gyrocopter and flew it around and got us in a whole mess of trouble."

"The 'whole mess of trouble' is what I have lawyers for. If they can't get this reduced to a slap on the wrist, I'm overpaying them. In the end, no-one was hurt except for Ruby's broken arm." Jacques gestured toward the wreck. "Our daughters managed something most adults would have struggled with. They built an aircraft. Talent like that should be encouraged."

Tai scratched the back of his head. "I don't follow."

"It's simple," Jacques said as they headed back toward the house. "I'd bet most of the engineering work was done by Weiss and Ruby. Yang isn't stupid, but I don't see this as her area of expertise."

"Yeah but-"

Jacques reached out and opened the door, holding it open for Taiyang. "And I'd bet as bright as Ruby is, she's bored in regular school a lot. If you want, I'll pay Ruby's tuition to the same school Weiss is attending. The curriculum is much more challenging and rigorous."

"Huh." Taiyang stood there, watching as the other girls decorated Ruby's cast. "You know, I think it's worth trying."

**Author's Note:**

> The dismantling the dishwasher thing is totally legitimate because my mother used to say I did that when I was little.


End file.
